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Creasey
Mahan Nature Preserve
is Oldham’s outdoor classroom
By
Helen E. McKinney,
Contributing Writer
(February 2002) GOSHEN, Ky. – Howard Mahan was
a conservationist ahead of his time. In 1978, he remarked
of his and wife Virginia’s 200-acre Goshen, Ky., farm,
“I wanted our farm to be something special for Oldham
Countians and Kentuckians.”
Mahan realized then that the future of his farm lay in subdividing
it, if plans were not set for its preservation. He prepared
for a future that others could enjoy, long after he and his
wife were gone.
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The result was the establishment of the Creasey
Mahan Nature Preserve, located between Hwy. 1793 and Harmony
Lane in northern Oldham County. Its rather remote location
prompts many visitors to frequently remark, “I didn’t
even know it was here,” said Larry Brown, director of
Grounds and Buildings.
“You’re totally surrounded by the city of Goshen,”
said Brown, reiterating Mahan’s fear that his farm would
have been incorporated into the city had it fallen into the
hands of developers. Seen as an alternative, the preserve
is an oasis quietly tucked into the heart of Goshen.
The Mahan’s christened their farm, “Hill O’
Content.” It had been presented to them in 1921 as a
wedding gift from Virginia’s father, L.L. Creasey. The
newlyweds set up housekeeping in a crude, four-room log cabin
built in 1807.
The farm was part of an original land grant of 287 acres deeded
to James Taylor. William Edwards was the next owner, purchasing
it on Jan. 26, 1807. Edwards erected the house that same year,
and for a time it was the parsonage for community pastors
and teachers.
Almost immediately, the Mahan’s began remodeling their
new home, wrapping the outside in clapboard. They converted
the “chicken run,” as Howard had labeled the dog
trot, into a beautiful, stylish hallway that complemented
the overall resplendency of the estate.
Wildlife and native grass plots, a field house and nature
center are only a few components of the preserve. Winding
trails take the hiker past more then 45,000 trees, shrubs
and bushes Mahan had planted by 1978 to attract a variety
of birds to the area.
“We feel we can be an outdoor lab,” said Executive
Director Glenn Yost.
Various hiking and birding clubs use the preserve, as well
as school groups and boy scouts. It is an idyllic setting
in which to educate student’s for the day, topping off
their experience with a picnic before leaving. The City of
Goshen recently provided playground equipment for the preserve.
Several educational and enrichment programs are offered at
the preserve on topics such as trees, wildflowers, birds of
prey, history, wetlands, song birds, and woodlands and meadows.
Yost said that certain individuals skilled in particular areas
of study aid with these programs by sharing their knowledge
with school groups.
One of the preserve’s regular resources is J. D. Stucker,
whose area of expertise is Native American Culture. “I
teach about the way of life before Kentucky was Kentucky,
and after Kentucky was Kentucky,” said Stucker.
His program provides the listener with insight into the tribes,
dress, dance, music, food, dwellings and much more about the
culture of Kentucky’s natives.
Stucker has also helped build a Native American diorama in
the preserve’s Nature Center. Children can often learn
more from such displays than from history books, Stucker said.
He strives to teach children that the old ways of doing things
are the best way, and to “explain the ecosystem the way
it was meant to be.”
Such programs put into perspective what students may already
have been taught in the classroom. The program content stresses
what is most familiar and native to this particular area of
Kentucky and the Ohio River. The preserve can comfortably
accommodate up to 125 students at one time.
There are 50 acres of meadows, with wetlands, springs, groves
and an unusual rock platform. A frog pond is often used when
teaching in the outdoor setting, and Little Huckleberry Creek
runs merrily through the farm.
Approximately 160 acres of the original Mahan farm are contained
within the preserve today.
A board comprised of seven directors now manage the preserve,
seeing to its overall maintenance. According to Yost, the
Mahans set up separate foundations before each died, desiring
that the money be used for the upkeep of the preserve.
Having no children of their own, the Mahans left a considerable
amount of money for the upkeep of their preserve. The dividends
cover all expenses, said Yost.
The Mahan’s generosity has enabled youth groups, school
students and other organizations to garner an understanding
and appreciation of the natural resources of the land from
the hands-on experiences they observe at the preserve.
Sue Stock, a retired Oldham County science teacher, says she
loves the idea of teaching in an outdoor educational setting.
Stock assists the preserve by providing a program on rocks
and soils because, as she puts it, “That’s what’s
underfoot. Every rock has its own story.”
“Kids spend so little time outside,” Stock said.
Stock said that when she was young, she played outside all
of the time, learning first-hand about the marvels of nature.
“Kids today don’t have this same opportunity unless
you provide it for them. The outdoors is our laboratory.”
Stock stresses in her programs at the preserve that the “land
ties in to what we do with nature. It’s wonderful to
study the changes of this very farm over time, as it changed
from farm to preserve.”
Howard Mahan expressed his dream to incorporate his farm into
an extensive wildlife sanctuary when he said, “It has
become the labor of my life, and I feel we’re on the
right track.” For his efforts, Mahan in 1978 was awarded
a “Soil Conservationist of the Year” plaque by the
League of Kentucky Sportsmen and the National Wildlife Association.
That same year, more than 350 quail were raised in a special
brood house and released on the farm. Plans were designed
for certain areas of the preserve to contain food plots for
wildlife to feed upon. Corn, sorghum and millet were planted
for these purposes.
“Larry is trying to increase the current wildlife population,”
said Yost, by continuing to develop and add to the existing
plots. In Yost’s words, the preserve truly is a “refuge
for nature.”
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